Blake

I read something years ago that claimed Isaac Newton was actually taking a jab at a rival who was a man of somewhat limited stature.

Don't have a twitter account. I would have gone with Kepler.

Honestly, if I was at that game, I'd probably have left if I was constantly subjected to that annoying cowbell.

By the way, by my standards, this game thread opener is pretty tame.

Hey, that's my line!

Well, might be an allegory referring to the state of the Oakland Coliseum.

I think I found a picture of the guy in the stands who's hitting the stupid cowbell.

Need to post, try and get the comment count past 10.

Eh, probably not, I think he's a bit more serous than I am.

I swear, I have absolutely no idea where Randball's Stu got to....

Twins lineup: 1. Max Kepler (L) RF 2. Jorge Polanco (S) SS 3. Nelson Cruz ® DH 4. Marwin Gonzalez (S) LF 5. C.J. Cron ® 1B 6. Luis Arraez (L) 2B 7. Miguel Sano ® 3B 8. Jason Castro (L) C 9. Byron Buxton ® CF Nothing for Oakland yet.

Disclaimer: The author in now way is implying that sponsors influenced anything he might have said today. The author remains committed to artistic integrity buy grit and will not allow anything to influence his artistic vision. Thank you. The author. Pitching for the Twins: Jake Odorizzi Pitching for Oakland: Daniel Mengden

We interrupt your day with this important announcement: The Twins will be on the West Coast, enjoying the hospitality of the Oakland Athletics. This special announcement was made possible by a generous grant from the following company: *Sponsor note: May also be of use to calm some Twins fans. Now, on to the game itself, but first a word from our sponsor: *Coming soon to a store near you The Twins are coming off a tough outing against the Sox, but, the "June Swoon" this year saw the Twins go 15-12, which I suspect is an acceptable outcome, all things considered. Now, on to Oakland, but first, a brief commercial break: *Man, I wish the IT department where I work was this good. Oh wait, I am the IT department.... Oakland/Twins series has the makings of a fun stretch of games, and I'm looking forward to seeing how the Twins match-up against Oakland. With that said, on to our regularly scheduled "5 Thoughts, questions and random musings" section of the Game Thread Series Opener. But first another word from our sponsor: 1. Odorizzi: All Star! 2. Polanco: All Star! 3. Rosario: Should be an All Star! 4. Cron: Should be an All Star! *Decided I needed some more music. 5. Play ball!

What's makes this year interesting is that the Twins have had lightning strike with 3 pitchers, Pineda, Perez and Odorizzi. As of right now, does the new FO see the arms in the minor league system to replace the above pitchers? If not, does the FO see anything that indicates the success of these pitchers is sustainable? Though, in thinking things through a bit further, I can see 1 or 2 accidents, but, with the emergence of Cron, Perez, Pineda and Odorizzi, I have to think the FO has a darn good idea of what they're doing.

Orioles/Cleveland update: 13-0, Baltimore. This is a CBU stand-in update.

Plesac started for Cleveland, gave up 7 runs in 3 and 2/3 innings. Wow.

Wow, three inning to go, can Baltimore hold off Cleveland? 11-0 so far.

WINNAH!

Did the two runs every other inning suit you?

3 days ago, I was saying that. Early returns says I need to start heating up a plate of crow.

Jose Berrios?

Ditto.

Cycle + 1 base. Technically a triple plus 1.

The exchange between Dick and Bert was pretty funny, when Bert said that he thought Cruz would rather hit it out of the park and take his time rounding the bases. Boom and Bert is ribbing Dick.